Heavy Lifters

When you speak of the muscle-bound champions of the animal kingdom, your first thoughts may head in the direction of the African elephant. But you would be incorrect. That particular pachyderm doesn’t hold a candle to the rhinoceros beetle when it comes to heavy lifting. The 6-ton African elephant can hoist around 1.5 tons (roughly 1/4 of its weight) while the 1 oz. beetle can lift over 53 pounds (about 850 times its own weight). Much of that ability comes from the fact that the insect has very little body mass, so very few of its muscles are used to support its own body weight. So, how much can you lift? Is it more like an elephant or a beetle? Another heavy lifter animal is the horse. They usually carry a horse-drawn vehicle typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or load.